New Landlord Wishing To Evict Existing Tenant....Help me out

Ok this sounds horrible but please read it all. I just bought my son and his wife a condo here in miami. My son is a trader, he's 27 years old and he was renting a unit for $6,500/month a big waste of money imo. He has a great job and is 2 years out of school and just got married and being a good dad I wanted him to buy a condo but he wanted to keep his cash to trade his personal accounts and I understand that. So I bought him and his new wife a condo for just under $600,000 here and i put down $200,000 as a wedding gift since they didn't have a wedding and wanted a condo instead. Anyways w/maintenance,taxes,mortgage they're going to pay $3400/month so im happy he saves alot and stays in the same building.

Well there was a tenant when I signed the agreement, i figured no big deal id offer to buy her out and she'd leave. She's paying $3,200/month. I offered $3k,$5k,$10k and she rejected all, she likes the unit and im stuck with her for 10 months, completely derailed my plans so now my son has to sign another 1 year lease at his place.

Now this tenant is basically a hooker, shes a girl who has an older boyfriend who pays her bills, he is not on the lease, and is a sketchy character and i feel like if she isn't paying the rent, since thats the only name on the lease and who the building screened, then i should be able to evict her correct? Her boyfriend isn't on the lease and i dont want to accept checks from someone the building didnt approve bc who knows what this shady guy does and i dont want ties to receiving checks from him.

Secondly, I am taking over this lease but the realtor said i had no right to know her job or income bc it was already approved by the building. What kind of nonsense is that, im owed $3200/month and i want to know who is paying me and what she does for a living bc i dont want someone with an unstable job. Its a joke bc she doesnt have a job shes literally a call girl, there are tons in miami who old men pay for. Is there some legal income to rent ratio she must meet in florida to rent this unit. 3x rent would be $115k/year which i know she doesnt make legally.

Im looking for any help i cant get to evict this girl and her disgusting old man boyfriend 40 years older than her, he lives in the building next door and rents her the place i bought bc he's probably married and wants her close by, anyways.....I want them out bc i put over $200k down to help my kid out and for 1 more year he's going to be renting and blowing his money which is not what i want.

I just want to know the legal portion of doesn't the person on the lease have to pay the rent? I imagine her boyfriend isn't going to deposit $3,200/month in her account to pay bills bc he would be setting her up for tax problem depositing $32,000 into her account over the last 10 months.

Also am i not legally entitled to verify this girls employment and income? I mean im on the hook for a lot if she cannot pay and the building only screens for criminal checks, income verification is on the owner. The owner i bought from is apparently a friend of her boyfriend and just let her in but they have a lease in place.

I'm not a lawyer. But it sounds to me like you didn't do your homework on this deal and will have to deal with it. I'm not sure what somebody does for a living matters much as long as you are getting paid. You are paying for your son's living arrangement by giving him $200,000 and she is getting her rent paid for by some other guy. By your standards, your son can't afford this place and somebody shouldn't have loaned him the money, whether it be you or a bank. I have no issue with you not wanting her to live there because of your moral standards, which I wouldn't want her living there either. But to try to cross the line by saying that its for a financial reasons when it's your bad deal isn't right. Good luck.

He can afford it, he's paying $6,500/month in rent, the place is only $600k. He just didn't want to put down $232k which i had to put down bc it ties down his ability to trade. I wanted to give the kids a wedding gift, and this was inline and lowered his rent since his mortgage will now be $3,400. The kid could have bought this place, but that's what dads are for. If I can afford to help Im happy to do so, he's a great kid who didn't cost me a dime in college and this was something i was happy to do. So don't say he can't afford it....I noted what he pays in rent, there's plenty who can afford to buy but can't put down the necessary downpayment for a condo in Miami. There's no 10 or 20% down out here, I had to put down 40% and the guy isn't even 30 and I understand him not wanting to tie up his cash and keep renting, but I wanted better for him.

You gave your son a $200,000 gift subject to gift taxes. Why can't the other guy give $32K in rent over the last 10 months and pay gift tax? What you are doing and what the other guy is doing is very similar. The pleasures are a little different, you for the joy of helping your son and the other guy for something else you think. Maybe its his daughter? Who knows? I don't know or really even care why he's paying her rent, it doesn't matter. It just seems to me that you are being a little hypocritical to me because you made a bad deal. Just be honest about that. Don't start trying to come up with a bunch of reasons to justify your decisions. I think the realtor was right, it is none of your business. She was approved by whomever before and has a right to be there whether you agree with her lifestyle or not. Act like an adult, accept your mistake and move on. We all make them, just accept it.

I'm not a lawyer and the following is not legal advice, but is my view on the situation and the legalities of any of it based on my experience as a landlord.

Your time for due diligence and screening of the tenant is prior to purchasing a unit. You are entitled to ask for any screening documents and information from the owner (seller) of the unit. However the seller did not have to give you any of those, and if he chose not to your recourse is to adjust the offer accordingly or walk away. Your purchasing the unit with or without any supporting documentation constitutes your agreement to being bound by those agreements and the conditions under which they were executed.

Once you've purchased a property you are legally bound to the terms and conditions of any leases or other agreements that were tied to the property. That is the position you are now in, and while you as the new owner can ask the tenant for her information she likely has no legal requirement to provide it. If she does willingly give it to you that's fine, you can't use it to evict her. You may want 3X the rent in income, however you can't retroactively decide that she is now no longer qualified for the unit. She may not qualify to renew a lease with you, but her current lease is valid even if she doesn't meet your criteria.

As far as who is making the rental payment. There is no legal requirement that I know of for rent to be paid by the tenant directly....meaning in their own name. The agreement is that she as the tenant on the lease will be paying XXX/mo. If that money arrives in the correct amount by the due date for that rent then she has fulfilled her obligation, no matter who's name is on the check. You can check with a lawyer on that, and maybe I'm wrong. If that is the case then inform her in writing that all further payments need to come directly from her or else she will be in breach on the lease agreement.

Best advice I can give is that it sounds like you need to just go ahead and be prepared to wait this out the 10 months until the lease is up.

@Jay Marks , is your son currently renting for $6,500 in Miami as well? I think most of the comments above are directing you to just hold out the term of the lease, so how about a workaround. Could you rent a unit in the same building for around the same amount as your tenant is paying you? Your son could move in and the rent would be a wash.

Account Closed

replied over 3 years ago

Unless the lease is badly executed, it's binding on you as you are the successor in interest (the new owner). You could pay an attorney to look at it see if they can find any loopholes and to see what they recommend, if anything, as a viable cause for eviction.

You can't re-qualify the tenant. Her credit/income/background qualified her for the current lease agreement. The time to get that info from the seller was before you bought it. If her rent is delivered on time, regardless of who is writing the check, you're going to have a hard time making a case for nonpayment. If you don't want to accept checks from whomever is currently paying, give your tenant notice of your required payment method. Make sure you check local and state laws regarding payment method changes and how such noticing must be done.

As for the buyout: You may still be able to negotiate a buyout, but not for $10K. Obviously the tenant and/or her boyfriend have enough income/assets to afford two pretty nice units in a good area, in proximity to each other. Your $10K offer doesn't address the inconvenience of moving or finding suitable replacement housing. I'd start with at least $20K if you are serious about a buyout to vacate the unit.

I would agree with looking over that lease with a fine toothed comb, probably more than once, maybe theres something in there that shes not doing, or is doing that she shouldnt that would allow an eviction. If the rents being paid, theres nothing you can do until the lease is up unless shes breaking the lease another way. Who pays it doesnt matter. Maybe theres something worth more than money to her that you can work with. Have you asked her what it would take for her to move if not cash?

Another option you have, is to find out the situation with her and this older guy, maybe somethings going on there that you can use to your advantage. I havent seen this suggested, but I guess everyone on this board is a stand up person and would never consider it, and I probably wouldnt either, but, its an option, and thats what you came here for. Maybe he is married, maybe it is his daughter or another family member, maybe hes taking care of her so she keeps her mouth shut about something else, never know, but Id find out what and go from there. Maybe something you can use, maybe not.

Maybe you could pitch the guy who is providing the money... if he was offered the cash for keys maybe he is more pragmatic about it?

Maybe you could alert the condo association about a criminal past or behavior that violates the rules or something that would disqualify her. Typically the lease would mention she must follow the association rules.

Lastly, maybe she would "switch" units with your son and you could subsidize the difference for the remaining 10 months? There is obviously some risk with that, but she is in your unit already.

1)I had to buy the unit bc this building in south beach, all units were trading over $1,500/sq ft average and with the non view units selling for $950-1000/sq ft. This unit was on the lowest floor,only 830 sq ft and had no view and it was bought for $600k just around $700/sq ft it was a complete steal. My son rents a slightly bigger unit in the building for $6,500 and this would allow him to live close to work and save $3,000/month so i co-signed with him and put the downpayment....no gift tax as one poster mentioned,Im more of an investor

2)During the buying process I repeatedly asked about the tenant and was told I couldn't discuss her until the unit was mine but the sellers realtor said obviously if I offered her a little money she would probably accept and move, he mentioned $3K....I ended up offering up to $10k and she said no

3)I have a tax attorney who helps me, I'm a retired trader myself,not a real estate investor and the reason he mentioned her boyfriend not being allowed to pay the lease is because the boyfriend could be a questionable character and receiving checks from him in the event he gets in trouble by the law opens me to a pandora's box of issues for doing business with him. He's an old,wealthy russian man and in miami lots of these wealthy russians are drug dealers,fraudsters,etc. I dont know who this man is and he is depositing checks in my bank account, the first one will be july 1st. Again though my tax attorney doesn't handle real estate tenant law and suggested I contact a real estate attorney but I figured I'd ask online before.

4)There are no comparable units in the building at that price and the reason the lease is cheap is bc miami is coming off the worst housing market ever in 2008-2009 so this unit in question was bought for only $385K and the owner is in venezuela and put the tenant in a month before we bought it bc he wanted a lease to cover just maintenance and taxes for him so that I understand. Rents are cheap my sons condo is for sale for $1.99M and he pays $6,500/mo when maintenance and taxes are $5k/month. Nobody rents on the beach in Miami most professionals work in brickell(downtown) but my sons investment firm is on the beach so there are tons of below market value rentals littering the beach.

My big issue with all this is simple, when my son moved in the building they made him fill out a lease that was 40-50 pages. They asked for his employer name,his income,etc. That part of the lease goes to the building and I get the other part with just her name and contractual obligation and I have a feeling the building only screens if you've gone to jail and not your income/employer bc. What I'm saying is in Miami if someone doesn't pay rent it takes months to remove them and I want to know this girls source of income because if its just her boyfriend what if this guy kicks her to the curb and my son has signed a lease for another year......well Im on the hook for $3400/month(my mortgage + maintenance + taxes) and that isn't fair to me.

Finally we used the sellers realtor to save some money on the deal bc he kicked me back about 1.5% since he was going to get 6% total on both sides, and he really did not represent our best interests and was very unhelpful so that was a mistake i will never make in another real estate transaction

Whomever represented you in the purchase of this condo, didn't inform you of all your rights & due diligence with this purchase.

Sounds like the listing agent represented both sides of the deal, which is a conflict of interest in my opinion. Also sounds like he "danced" around your questions because sellers agent had the best interest of the seller.

I believe you are entitled to the current occupants information since now you are a landlord by default.

Consult an attorney to get a clear understanding of your rights at this point in order to figure out what strategy you can use ( especially if the rent is paid on time regardless of who pays it ) to get her out and your son into the unit.

Look up your local landlord/tenant act and read it thoroughly, to see if there is anything in the landlord tenant act which you can use to get her out.

What about from her point of view? She has a lease in place and that has been her home, she has paid the agreed upon rent on time and could now be forced out because you bought the house. That would be very stressful. So what if she is a call-girl? Is that the worst thing someone could be doing?

I mean the reality is, who is protecting me if heer boyfriend really is paying her bills and he suddenly decides to stop paying her rent and breaks up with her.....his name isn't on the lease, hers is. So isn't it fair that I get to verify her employment and income to make sure i get paid no matter what.

Tenant eviction laws are very tough and it could take months to get her out in the event she doesnt pay, not saying it will happen, but its a possibility bc its been noted to me by the realtor that her boyfriend is who pays rent but his name is not on the lease.

Either way I didn't invest in this condo to be a landlord and for someone paying $3,200/month in rent getting a $10K check from me to leave and go to another building was a good deal, she was stubborn and didn't care that i was buying it for my son after he talked with her at their building and now Im looking for a reason to get her out. Most people would be amicable, take $10k for doing nothing and say congrats on your purchase. Now though Im faced with an unknown guy paying rent for a girl in my unit and he could kick her to the curb at any moment and I would be the one losing money and that is the issue im upset with at this point. I can't just move my son in and he pays the mortgage at that point bc his lease ends next month on his place and he is just going to renew his lease for a year and im not going to ask him to pay 2 payments if she has to leave.

There is a reason people sign leases, so they're obligated to the unit, I think its only fair i know what she does for a living and how much she earns and if she can handle paying $3,200/month on her own.

What if she had a legitimate job and lost it? How is that any different? You sound like a very selfish person who cannot accept responsibility for your own mistakes and want to blame everybody else. You made a mistake out of your greediness to save money and now you have to deal with it. Deal with it. You can't have your cake and eat it too. You should have hired your own representation. You saved about $9000 by using the other realtor, now you get to pay that back. Karma's a biotch sometimes.

I came to this forum to ask advice from other landlord's since I've never been one. I'm not losing anything she's paying $3200/month and I owe $3400/month. I can handle a $200/month loss while the condo appreciates. All Im saying is if somehow this guy breaks up with this girl since he's the one paying her rent who is going to pay my mortgage,taxes,maintenance for a few months while the eviction process plays out. It's just not right to have someone not on the lease paying bills bc the person on the lease is who was verified by the building.

I don't know why you've been a jerk from the beginning but Im sorry for upsetting you from the get go. Im a trader brian i spent my whole life trading interest rate sensitive products, I've never been a landlord so Im not acting like I know everything here, Im just seeking guidance and figured what better place than a landlord forum. Everyone else has been so helpful, you're the only guy whose been on my *** from the minute I posted my 1st and only question.

What kind of lease is in place? I Am assuming it is a written lease and not verbal correct? As others have suggested, your only shot that I can see is if you go over tht lease with a fine tooth comb and fine something in there you can make an issue out of.

As a last resort, you can simply ask to meet with the woman and have a 1 on 1 talk and be honest about your intentions for your son to move in and just ask her outright what will it take to get her to move? Maybe she would move @ 15k maybe 20k? Net net you still would be saving over all as your son wouldn't be paying that additional 3k or so for those 10 months....

OTOH worse case 10 months isn't teh end of the world, as you said you can pay the 200 difference and wait 10 months and then know for sure you can get her out based on fact the new owner wishes to occupy the condo.

Youa re definitely in a bit of a pickle here regarding your original plans....

Originally posted by @Jay Marks :
I came to this forum to ask advice from other landlord's since I've never been one. I'm not losing anything she's paying $3200/month and I owe $3400/month. I can handle a $200/month loss while the condo appreciates. All Im saying is if somehow this guy breaks up with this girl since he's the one paying her rent who is going to pay my mortgage,taxes,maintenance for a few months while the eviction process plays out. It's just not right to have someone not on the lease paying bills bc the person on the lease is who was verified by the building.

...

The same as any other landlord with any other rental unit: the landlord is on the hook to pay the tab.

Once you reach the point where your tenant has breached the lease due to non-payment, then you will have a legitimate reason to proceed with eviction.

As to whether the party named on the lease must make the rent payment, the answer is no. Some typical examples of rents being paid by other than the tenant are Section 8 with the Housing Authority paying and many college students with a parent paying the rent.

Your accountant is concerned that you might be part of money laundering by the party paying the rent. Not sure if that would somehow come back to bite you or not. Maybe you should seek legal counsel on that. And also have legal counsel review the lease to determine if there might be some clause where the tenant is already in default of the lease, so that you can start with a notice to quit to cure the breach and the tenant failing to cure would allow you to proceed with eviction.

There is a reason people sign leases, so they're obligated to the unit, I think its only fair i know what she does for a living and how much she earns and if she can handle paying $3,200/month on her own.

That sword cuts both ways. You bought the contract, at existing terms. The lease protects her from being evicted by a new landlord with selfish motivations. You are trying to rationalize why you should be allowed to correct your own mistakes at her expense. Accept that you screwed up, and deal with it in an equitable manner. You can't evict on a hypothetical. She already has a legal contract that you assumed. You can't change qualifications on it now, even if she were unemployed if she is paying the rent. The source of that money is none of your business unless she is violating the law AND YOU CAN PROVE IT, not just through insinuating that she is doing something illegal or immoral. Offer her terms that she is happy with, or accept that you need to wait.

@Jay Marks , I don't want to be rude. It sounds like you have enough to deal with. It does sound to me like some due diligence was missed somehow. I know that it was not your intention, but if you buy a place w/ a 10 mo. lease still in place, you should plan on honoring that lease. Period. If you can not prove that she is doing anything illegal, I see no issue. I personally am not a "what if" kind of guy. "What if" a tsunami hit the coast of S.E. Florida. None of this would probably be an issue.

I agree w/ @Steve L. that maybe talking to him may have some influence. He may not want people asking questions or sending "paid" receipts to his address.

Thanks for all your help, I actually made the mistaking of using the sellers realtor and he did not represent my best interests whatsoever I guess the few thousand I saved was not worth that idea, the blame for that is on me.

I actually just got off the phone with a tenant eviction attorney in miami who overlooked the lease and told me that legally I can send her a notice that the rent does indeed have to come from her because that is who signed the contract on the place. I can actually reject a check that comes from her boyfriend I was told. The attorney said I would have to give them a few days to get the money to me from her account and call the boyfriend's bluff bc he would then have to deposit $3,200/month in her account and that could cause tax ramifications.

But the attorney did warn me it may not be worth the headache since there is a possibility her boyfriend may just do that anyway with disregard to her tax situation so she suggested that since the next cheapest 1 br unit was listed for almost $250K more that I turn around and list it for sale at $200k more or some ridiculous price it wont sell at and just give it to a high volume real estate firm to do multiple showings since the lease states there is no amount of maximum showings allowed. Most realtors here go in a building and show multiple units so if its for sale, it will get shown she said. She said many people have done this in hopes of getting tenants out bc they get fed up with all the showings interrupting their schedules and it works.

Id feel so slimy doing that but I guess thats my only choice at this point.From the beginning the sellers realtor who was also mine repeatedly told me we cant discuss the tenant bc im not the landlord but once the unit was mine i could pay her a little he suggested $3K, I tripled that at one point, and she said no to all those offers. So again blame is on me for not getting this all in writing but the realtor, who i trusted to represent me, completely failed me in that regard bc he could have easily asked the tenant and he didn't bc he was more concerned with closing the sale

In Washington State, any lease can be rightfully terminated if the owner ( and his or her immediate family) decides to take possession of the property and live in it. I believe that 30-days notice is that is required.

Here is the code and guidelines for eviction under owner-occupancy laws for Washington State:

The owner wishes to occupy the premises personally,

or the owner’s immediate family will occupy

the unit, and no substantially equivalent unit is

vacant and available in the same building. Immediate

family includes the owner’s spouse or

the owner’s domestic partner, and the parents,

grandparents, children, brothers and sisters of

the owner, the owner’s spouse or the owner’s domestic

partner. If the owner gives this reason to

terminate a tenancy and then fails to carry it out,

he or she may be subject to a civil penalty of up

to $2,500. A tenant whose tenancy is terminated

for this reason has a private right of action if he

or she feels an owner has failed to comply with

these requirements.

Most states have an owner-occupancy clause with the Landlord-Tenant Laws. Inquire as to Florida's laws, and have an attorney handle all contact with the tenant.

@Jay Marks I like @Chris Masons suggestion above. Though not the biggest issue you've raised above, in the future, I'd strongly suggest having a realtor that only represents your interests as opposed to both sides. I hope you find a way to resolve this issue.